No Says Taleban To Karzai Talks

Taleban shun Karzai talks offer

A spokesman for Taleban militants in Afghanistan has rejected another offer for talks by President Hamid Karzai. Spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi said the Taleban would never negotiate with the Afghan authorities while foreign troops remained in the country.

President Karzai repeated on Saturday that he would be willing to offer the Taleban positions in government if it would bring peace.

"Taliban are not interested in government posts - ministries or anything. We want the withdrawal of foreign forces and we stand by our position," Qari Yusuf Ahmadi told news agencies.

"As long as they have not withdrawn, we'll never talk with the Kabul administration."

President Karzai said on Saturday he wished he could contact Taleban leader Mullah Omar and warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar to ask why they were trying to destroy Afghanistan. He said he would meet both men personally, and even offer them cabinet posts, if it would help to bring about peace. But he reiterated he would not agree to any troop
withdrawal.
Left: A Taleban suicide bomber killed 30 people on Saturday

The Taleban claimed responsibility for Saturday's suicide bomb attack on a Kabul bus, which was split in two by the blast. The attack, in which a further 21 people were injured, was the second deadliest in the Afghan capital since 2001.

The Afghani people have renewed confidence in the Taleban as civic services wither, security worsens and air strikes carried out by international troops deployed in the country continue to kill civilians. Foreign air forces bombard villages and sometimes Mosques in the hope of killing Taleban militants,

In July, 2007,over 130 dead bodies of civilians including women and children were found in the rubble left by coalition bombardment.

The civilian casualties in that incident became even higher as the search for dead bodies continued. Some estimates put the total loss of life at over 180 persons. But, as US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld said, "we don't do body counts." Moreover, it is difficult to independently, verify the death toll in these incidents as the bombings occur in remote and volatile regions of the country.

About 37,000 soldiers of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and 13,000 US-led coalition troops are operating in Afghanistan to hunt down militants. However, they have frequently caused high civilian casualties in their operations, critically undermining the Afghan people's support for them.

Nevertheless, foreign forces have asserted that Taleban insurgents deliberately mingle themselves with civilians therefore, civilian casualties are caused. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has severely criticized foreign troops this year for their lack of coordination with Afghan forces during their operations and the high loss of life among civilians.

Due to rising Taliban insurgency, over 3,000 persons, most of whom are Taleban militants, have been killed in Afghanistan this year. Scores of Taleban fighters have been killed in the past week. However, there seems to be an endless supply of young Paskiistani and Afghani young men who want to take up arms and are willing to die to liberate Afghanistan from the seven-year occupation.